1. Field
This disclosure relates to a method, and a system thereof, for automatically selecting a personal media device and managing data under a smart media cloud environment. Specifically, the method, and the system, for automatically selecting a personal media device and managing data under a smart media cloud environment, are suggested to automatically select, and control, a variety of media output devices in accordance with media contents under an UPnP and DLNA environment, thereby providing the functions of an automated media service conversion between smart media contents and cloud media contents in a private network environment, and of a determination of the degree of control of devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Devices for outputting media contents in such a private network as home network generally include Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) and Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) technologies. These technologies are designed to provide standardized media contents anywhere at any time when connected to the Internet because they support an intelligent home automation solution for personal users. The UPnP technology provides a distributed, open networking architecture, which not only affects TCP/IP and web technologies but also provides data transfer and control between devices connected in a network, in order to furnish a seamless proximity networking. The DLNA provides an architecture designed to implement conversions among electronic device vendors, and establish a compatible platform on the basis of the public industry standard that has already been established for use of home network.
The UPnP Device Architecture (UDA) provides a zero-configuration and invisible networking, and a categorization of media devices within a certain boundary by means of automatic search from devices made by a variety of electronic device vendors. In this architecture, media devices are dynamically connected in a private network. The architecture obtains a private IP address from a device to transmit its capacities, and provides information of the existence and capacities of other devices in the network.
A home network environment built on such UPnP and DLNA allows an automatic search of different media devices among media devices, smart media devices, and cloud media systems, which are connected in a home network for the purpose of sharing contents between devices in a deck. As individual media services have metadata information of media files, music files, or image files, a profile management technology is applicable to obtain such information, generate a MIME type necessary for service connection, and store in the DB of a smart device the metadata of all relevant media contents.
Furthermore, the guideline of UPnP and DLNA provides a principle of design by which sharing of media contents is allowed between products with different brands via a wired or wireless network between home appliances, PCs, and smart devices. Therefore, the products in compliance with this guideline may share each other media contents such as music, photographs, or videos through a wired or wireless home network. Upon sharing media contents between devices, which are used in a home network environment built on UPnP and DLNA, services are controlled in consideration of the characteristics of devices and communication environments, and a connection to a variety of servers on a private communication network is made to provide better quality service.
However, under the current home network environment, users should bother to manipulate each UPnP or DLNA device to play each of media contents, for example when they want to play music contents with an audio-playable device while an image contents is being played by an UPnP or DLNA device such as a digital photo frame in which image files like photographs are operable. Moreover, with respect to controlling of peripheral appliances while watching a movie, users should inconveniently operate each DLNA device, for example, in order to pause the operation of a motor-operated appliance such as a vacuum or washing machine or to shift it to a low noise mode, and to adjust the brightness of lighting appliances, while the users consume such contents as movies through a DLNA device such as a television. Because, within a deck, a variety of user interfaces (UIs) are to be used to operate each DLNA device in order to consumemedia contents, there is no way to play media contents in a synchronized way in each DLNA device.
A cloud media system may replace the functions of a prior UPnP media server or DLNA home server, and so operate as to maintain media contents data and home network including a virtual network connected to the Internet, and to convert the media data into one suitable to a service environment in a distributed environment.
Furthermore, the system has an architecture that replaces the functions of an user's PC with virtualized functions necessary for services, and may thus provide media contents services suitable to a service environment in a variety of home service devices and smart media appliances. Also, it provides functions including the interaction between sharing and distributing of media contents in accordance with a service environment.
Accordingly, this field of technology has demanded a technology which conveniently provides the management of a variety of devices in a home network connected to a cloud media system by means of expanding the function of home network built on DLNA and the search of a media output device via UPnP, and also provides the synchronization and automatic search in order to play contents suitable to a device among a plurality of contents.